North Dakota Grade 1 English

Tell the Story’s Parts

Identify characters, setting, and events in an original Grade 1 story, with North Dakota English references, printable worksheets, and an oral response. Connect this activity with the school’s wider literacy sequence.

Curriculum reference: North Dakota English Language Arts Content Standards, June 2023, from the NDDPI English Language Arts standards page.

North Dakota Grade 1 references for this activity

NDDPI’s current English Language Arts page links the June 2023 K–12 standards. The document organizes literacy through foundations, communication, reading, writing, and inquiry/research; foundations apply through Grade 6, while later grades extend reading, writing, communication, and inquiry. Selected references here use the state document’s own grade and strand codes. Read the school’s complete course sequence alongside the full standards rather than treat one activity as an entire literacy program.

These selected reference labels identify an activity focus, with the correct grade and PDF page linked separately. Read the complete standards selected by the school and its learning sequence, including reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening. This short original example does not fulfill the entire curriculum or establish a student’s grade-level proficiency.

A place for the blanket

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Ada and Ben took a blanket into the yard. They put it under a tree. A toy truck rolled onto the blanket. “Here is a road,” said Ben. Ada moved her blocks beside it. They made a town on the blanket.

Try the activity

An adult can read the story aloud. Who is in the story? Where are they? Tell what happens first and what they make at the end. Point to or repeat words that helped you.

Follow the reasoning

Ada and Ben are the named characters. The yard, under a tree, is the setting. They first place the blanket there; Ben then treats the toy truck’s path as a road, and Ada adds blocks. Their actions turn the blanket into a pretend town. A child can explain the beginning and ending orally, using the blanket and blocks as clues. The tree tells where the children play, while the toy truck helps move the action toward building a town. Naming a place is different from telling an event. The response should keep those story parts connected rather than simply list objects.

Notice what needs more practice

The toy truck is an object in this scene, not a character with its own speech or feelings. The story does not tell the time of day, the children’s ages, or whether they live together. This short listening activity does not measure a child’s independent decoding or cover every Grade 1 literacy requirement.

Use the next session to build independence

1. Listen and name the two children.
2. Locate the setting in the words.
3. Retell the change from a blanket to a pretend town.

Use a teacher-selected picture book to identify its people or animal characters and setting. Retell two connected events after reading or listening. Ask the child to show which picture or words support each response.

For more general reading and writing resources, visit the Grade 1 English Online Center.

North Dakota Grade 1 English: useful planning questions

Is naming objects the same as telling the plot?

No. Explain what the characters do and how the events connect. Use objects as supporting details when they matter to the action.

Which standards does the school use?

NDDPI’s current English Language Arts page links the June 2023 K–12 standards. The document organizes literacy through foundations, communication, reading, writing, and inquiry/research; foundations apply through Grade 6, while later grades extend reading, writing, communication, and inquiry. Selected references here use the state document’s own grade and strand codes. Read the school’s complete course sequence alongside the full standards rather than treat one activity as an entire literacy program. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.